Maiden Yamboree Queen Laid To Rest

I saw her standin on her front lawn just twirlin her baton… –From Springsteen’s Nebraska

***

My mom recently made a trip to California.Before she left I sent her an email. I had something pressing I wanted to tell her:

Dear Mom, I’m glad you’ve been with me all these years.

***

If I try hard I can see you In October orange It was a majorette costume With spagetti straps and black sequin trim

Your legs were as long as Your smile was broad And, we We were just 13.

We lined up with the band On a Friday night in autumn. It was 1980, and the stadium lights saturated The gleam of your batons They were on fire Like you And the band played Breadman

Nothing could out drum The noise of your smile It was a whipped confection Like a sugary Yamboree pie It whisked away the judges At the county fair.

Everyone adored you.

That same year I saw you on the town square During the festival Colored bulbs burned out the night stars Punctuated our hope And our shadows danced in the fields and farms Of Upshur County

You wore a Corduroy jumper And climbed onto the Magic of a Ferris Wheel In fall I waved But you did not see me

In the years that followed I looked for you If only in my mind Everytime I played Nebraska You were that girl Standing in the middle of a Springsteen song

I missed you, Teri Even if you didn’t know I had moved away And so thoughts of you marched through my mind For years And, I googled you And googled you And, then one day I caught up with an acquaintance on Facebook And I wrote to her And she wrote back

I’m so sorry [so went the missive]Teri died when she was 26.

And, I’d been thinking of you for 30 some odd years, And, you’d been gone for 16 of them.

I waited too long to tell you, Teri, I loved the way your glittery pink eyeshadow blanketed your suntanned eyelids I can still see you Staring off into space Plunking on the Xylophone While the band director called out your name

TeriTeriTeriAre you with us?

***

In October, they’ll gather on the town square Like they have every year since 1935 But, there are no more sweet potatoes in the fields Around Upshur County

Just this maiden Yamboree Queen Laid to rest

***

I want Teri’s mom to know I think of her often As she was that day under the Ferris Wheel The broadway lights of concessions and rides Rocketing the town Igniting our adolescent dreams I want her to know I remember her As she was during pep rallies Donning that orange and white check pinafore and bloomersThis was Texas; 100 miles from Southfork. And, the twirling medals pinned to her band jacket And running track at the high school In navy terry cloth shorts Her bright blue bathing suit I watched her jump off the high dive at the city pool

There was a sign in their front yard It said The Smiths And it swayed in the wind The pool-blue slide peeked over the fence I promised to buy my mom a house Just like that But, I never did

Teri wore this shirt It was Blue and green and Embroidered on the front in Red and yellow Were children flying kites. It was the same shirt Lori Loughlin Wore as Jody Travis on The Edge of Night

Teri is in that shirt somewhere With those kids Flying kites in primary colors Forever young And, it’s taken me too long To write this missive More people remember Teri Than forget

And, I think she would like her mom to knowShe’s glad she was with her all those years Through cancer And baton lessons and costumes Fire and fringe Her smile remains

***

The last time I saw Teri She was standing under the Dogwoods On Bradford Street in spring

I will meet with her spirit some October On the town square Underneath the Ferris Wheel As I did at the dawn of adolescence I will be the one Carrying a baton

Photo Credit: Dillsnufus via Flickr with Creative Commons License

Yamboree Queen and Festival

Click here to learn more about the annual crowning of the Yamboree Queen at the East Texas festival.

Hello, I'm Jennifer. I write about faith and family from the perspective of a Gen-Xer navigating life in the 21st Century. Generation X, a so-called "lost generation" of former latchkey kids, was born between 1961 and 1981. Thanks for stopping by!

Comments

Beautiful. Teri was so full of life and greatly missed and leaving a void in Gilmer. I’ll make sure her mom and brother see this as I know they would love it. What a sweet tribute. You are a gifted writer lady!

I loved her. We were down in Texas last spring for a twirling competition — my little Bridgy — and I thought about Teri the whole time. She inspired me to get Bridgy twirling lessons. I’m grateful for you, Teri. Your life made such a difference!!! Thank you, Alise. Miss you. =)

@McMGRAD89 – Thanks for stopping by and reminding me of you and your blog. Maybe the velocity of loss carried you to this post as a reminder that the people we love and lose are never forgotten. It seems to be a theme I land upon from time to time with rare individuals with whom my path has crossed. Blessings on you!

@KIM – Thank you so much for posting the link to this post on your Facebook and for connecting with on FB despite our brief junior high acquaintance. You were able to fill in the blanks for me and I appreciate it so much.

To the dozen or more people who left comments on Kim’s link to this post, I am grateful to join with those who, like me, remember Teri. I had one more memory of her. She was wearing white spiked heels with a burgundy sundress at the First Baptist Church in Gilmer early one summer. I’m sure we’ll see her again, someday! =)

A beautiful tribute to someone taken way too soon. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful and personal memory. I hope her mother reads it. As a mother, I know she would love it. Beautiful, just beautiful. And beautifully written.